March 20, 1794 letter from J. Sidney Newcatre to Thomas Haweis
Title |
March 20, 1794 letter from J. Sidney Newcatre to Thomas Haweis |
Post Date |
March 20, 1794 |
Author |
Newcatre, J. Sidney |
Recipient |
Haweis, Thomas (1734-1820) |
Date |
1794-03-20 |
Physical Description |
4 pp. total; 3 pp. text; 1 p. address |
Dimensions |
39.1 x 24.6 cm |
Location (Box, Folder) |
Box 2, File 19 |
Address To |
Bath |
Country To |
England |
Address From |
Wellington, Somerset |
Country From |
England |
Transcriber |
Gareth Lloyd |
Plain Text Transcription |
From J. Sidney Newcatre at Wellington in Somerset to TH. at Bath in Somerset. Last Tuesday [Robert] Jarratt, the Vicar of Wellington, visited and consoled poor Haynes at Halburton ‘on the loss of the worthy and respectable Williams, whose death has made Halburton poor indeed [and] made the pious mourn, and all the people in general sincerely grieve for a loss which perhaps will never be repaired.’ He was a blessing to people from many miles around and it is a great shame to lose one so young and one who was so great an ornament to the Church. While Jarratt was talking to poor Haynes, Newcatre visited some of the people and it was certainly a sad scene. They have poor prospects ‘for Haynes is incapable of judging and has engaged a Mr Ley, under-master at Tiverton School to succeed the devout, the zealous and the charming Williams. This Ley, so far as I can find, is a man of good character, but – as poor Haynes seems so superannuated as not to feel what an awful thing he has done – Mr Jarratt and I were very plain with him, but all we could get from him was, that Ley is a good man, though he does not preach evangelically. You may conclude that he is not himself, when he is reduced to this melancholy condition. You perhaps know Mrs Eyres(?) his sister-in-law better than I do – but…I fear that she is not right and does what she can to remove the gospel from Halburton.’ Newcatre does not know if T.H. has written to Mr [Haynes] since Mr Williams’s death, but if he did, Newcatre has reason to believe that he never saw the letter for Newcatre asked him why he had not sought T.H.’s advice concerning an assistant and he answered that he could not write. The ‘serious people’ have advised him to write to T.H. but he answered them roughly and Newcatre fears that he was put up to this response. ‘I cannot tell whether it be known to you that dear Williams was great and good in the opinion of almost every one except the Vicarage. It would be tedious to relate the reasons for this.’ He knows that T.H. had good influence over Mr Haynes before but he doubts if even he will be able to exert any influence now for the people of Halburton and any letter written to him would probably never reach its destination. Haynes’s memory is also most impaired and his intellect is suffering. If T.H. can devise any way to help the cause of the church at Halburton, it would be of great assistance. In a postscript, he asks that if T.H. can spare half an hour from his pressing engagements, he would be grateful to receive his comments on the situation here and if he can recommend some excellent man who could take Williams’s place. (1 sheet, 4p.) 20 March 1794 Robert Jarratt (c.1766-1843) was born in Hull, Yorkshire. He was educated at Trinity College Cambridge and served for fifty years as Rector of Wellington in Somerset for a stipend of just £15 per annum. Jarratt was much loved by his parishioners. |
Digital Resources Type |
Image |
Digitization Date |
Digitized: 2012 |
Digitization Process |
Digitization process: Derivatives resized at 4030 pixels in height or width |
Digital Publisher |
Bridwell Library, Special Collections; Perkins School of Theology; Southern Methodist University |
Rights |
Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Head of Special Collections of the Bridwell Library |
Decade |
1790-1799 |
you wish to report:
...